Questionable Friends, Dependable Foes
by kevskove
Summary: Genki and rest are faced with the situation of a great avdenture upon their hands, who is trustworthy and who is not who they seem?
1. The Fall

  
HELLO! this is my very first fan fiction for fanfiction.net. Please give your input, for i always need that. Thanks!  
-kevskove  
  
  
  
  
***  
It was another regular day; sun shining and grass gleaming. Genki and party had just gotten out of a town and were making their way down a well trodden path on the search for the Phoenix. Everything was not as normal as it would seem at first....  
  
"Holly! Where are we looking for next?" Genki questioned. This had become an old routine that started off everyday. The young boy had full faith in his whole group, and never failed to use any of their abilities without question.   
Holly nodded and pulled the stone out from her shirt. She began to focus hard and the stone began to glow. A golden arrow pointed east. Holly never fully understood why this happened, but was very grateful.  
  
"The stone says, to go... east!"  
  
"Phoenix, here we come! Ha ha!" Genki shouted with delight.  
  
"Chi!" Moochi chimed in, as usual. The duo sped off in front of the group, leaving everyone choking on a cloud of dust. Moochi found it easier to say "chi" than use complicated words.  
  
"That boy never runs out of energy. If only there was a way to glue him to a tree..." Suezo said, sighing.  
  
"Awww, don't be so hard on the boy. If it werent for him you wouldnt be teleporting around!" Hare said in a playful tone.  
  
"Dont start with me, Hare!"  
  
"Whatcha gonna do about it?"  
  
"Say that again and Ill show you!"  
  
"What-are-you-going-to-do-about-it?"  
  
"Teleport!" Suezo had just finished his words when he appeared in the sky. "I'm gonna get you Hare!!!!!!" Hare moved to his right side two paces. Suezo fell to the ground, and the rest of the group sighed.  
  
"Heh, heh.... Cut it out guys!" Holly said, embarressed.  
  
"Maybe....I....should...........sit down." Suezo said, dizzy and lodged in the ground.  
  
"Or maybe we can stop this foolery and start acting like we've got a brain!" Tiger of the Wind said, very annoyed. "If we quit the crap we can get to the next town before sundown."  
  
"Sounds good to me." Suezo said. He dizzily started walking around and fell to the ground. The ground started cracking to the road.   
  
"Earth......shaking......." Golem said, not the least bit excited.  
  
"Eh? Help me Golem!" Suezo leaped and latched on to Golem with his tounge. The ground where he was fell into a huge ravine, and a crack met Golem's feet.  
  
"GUYS! GET OUTTA THERE!" Tiger yelled.  
  
Golem started running/leaping, but with each step made more of a gorge. At last, his foot slipped into the ground. Golem and Suezo stared at the hole, and the ground gave way. Everything fell into itself around the group.  
  
"HAAAAAAAAAALLLPPP" Hare shrieked as he slipped into the ever growing pit.  
  
"GENKI! MOOCHI! SAVE US!" Holly yelled in unisom with Hare. She prayed for the saftey of the group as the ground slipped beneath her feet....  
  
***  
  
  
Genki was far ahead of the group when he heard a large crash in the distance. He stopped abruptly and Moochi crashed into him. They toppled over and fell to the ground.  
  
"Ow chi!"   
  
"Moochi. Did you hear that?" Genki questioned. The pink monster nodded its head and pointed back a ways down the road.  
  
"OH NO! THE OTHERS!" Genki yelled and sped off down the road.  
  
"Wait for me chi!" The two hurried back to where a huge dark cloud loomed over...  
  
***  
  
Genki came back to find a vast valley of rock and barren swamp. How did this get here? Genki asked himself. He made his way down to the side of a cliff with Moochi following closely behind. He spotted a small body on the edge of a jut in the rock. He identified it as the body of Tiger.  
  
"TIGER! Tiger wake up!" Genki shook the limp body. Moochi plopped down and started crying.  
  
"Please be ok chi."   
  
"Tiger be alright, please..." Genki stopped moving the blue body, and said to Moochi behind tears, "We gotta find the others..." As they were leaving, Tiger slowly twitched his ears and got up.  
  
"TIGER!" Moochi and Genki both shouted.  
  
"Genki, Moochi. *cough* Wh- Where are the others?"  
  
"We dont know." Genki sighed. "What happened here?"  
  
"The ground fell in. We have to find the others!" Tiger started to move, but stumbled. His leg was bleeding and smearing blood on the ground.  
  
"Tiger, youre hurt chi!" Moochi said, pointing at his leg.  
  
"I'll be fine, lets go!" Tiger said before falling.   
  
"Stay here. Moochi and I will look for the others."  
  
They drudged on in the green swamp sludge, searching for other members. Moochi spotted something reddish on the other side of a near by river.   
  
"It's Holly and Hare!!!!" Genki shouted with glee. They swam over to the grassy knoll the two were on.   
  
"They look fine! Chi!"Moochi said with relief. Moochi shook Holly awake. Holly blinked a few times, like she didnt know Moochi. Then she snapped back to normal and hugged Moochi.   
  
"Im glad to be back. Are you ok?"   
  
"Fine chi!" By that time Hare was up.  
  
"Hi guys! I cant believe Im alive!" Hare said before kissing the ground. Genki noticed that Hare didnt have his pouch.  
  
"Hey Hare! Are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah, im great!"  
  
"...Did you lose your sack of things?"  
  
"Whoops! I must have lost those in the fall."  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"We gotta look for the others." As soon as Genki said that, Holly gasped.  
  
"My pendant and knife are gone!" Holly looked on her right side for her talisman, double checking. Genki took note of this, and filed it away for later thought.  
  
"You mean your talisman?"   
  
"Right. Its gone!"  
  
"Are you sure the stone is gone?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
***  
  
The two newly found members were reunited with Tiger. Then Moochi and Genki made their way back to the swamplands in search of the last two members. They came across Suezo, stuck in a stump of a tree.  
  
"Get me out!" Suezo yelled, but it sounded like "mmmmmMMMMMMmmMmmMMmm"  
  
"Suezo, listen to me! Zap out using teleport." Genki said.  
  
"You can do it chi!" Moochi shouted in encouragement.  
  
"TelePORT!!!!!!!!!!!" Suezo turned blueish purple and in an instant was standing next to Genki.  
  
"Alright! One more to find!" Genki said, and it made Moochi smile.  
  
***  
  
Genki and group searched hard for Golem for the next four days, with no resulting prize. Everyone's spirits were low, and fell even worse off when Hare informed the group that they need to move on. They had a burial and made thier way to a town called "New Manic Town". Holly rented an inn room, and the group all came to the room. After a long silence, Suezo finally said,  
  
"What now?"  
  
"What do you mean what now?" Hare questioned.  
  
"I mean what now as in we have no way of telling were the Phoenix is, no money, no Golem, and NO FREAKING IDEA WHAT TO DO!"  
  
"We need to get jobs." Holly said. The group looked shocked, as Holly usually stayed quiet during yelling and shared her input when everyone was calm.  
"Listen, we are in a rut right now, but we need to make the best of things that we have, not that we dont." Everyone nodded, and slowly agreeing with the idea.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
So how was that? R&R back to me and let me know! 


	2. Who's Who?

Well, here's chapter 2. If I could, I would sneak a few Japanese words in the front, but I don't know any; maybe next time! (bleh) but anyway, this is the second chapter of hopefully many, as long as the reviews show up and they aren't that bad. Thanks for last time for who did.-kevskove  
  
***  
"Why do I always get stuck with the weird things to do...?" Suezo asked himself. He was employed at the "Hair Licken' Shop" where Suezos, Horns, etc., were paid to lick others hair. Supposedly it help rejuvenate the shine to hair~ (it was never proven ). It had been 4 months since the party moved into town. It was a small town, and did not have many jobs to offer. He was more fortunate than the rest of his group, as Holly was the only other to land a job.  
"Just lick the hair, Suezo, yeah, just do that..."   
The yellow monster was very unhappy. Holly, on the other hand, was quite happy, and was given a job at the local shrine.   
"Sure, Holly gets to work in the nice shrine where everyone is happy. But no, I have to lick old people's hair!"  
  
Genki, Tiger, Hare, and Moochi were posted on the outskirts of town to gather as many articles of food and herbs as possible. "Hare is more isolated from the group than usual..." Genki thought to himself. "Must have been traumatizing, the fall, I mean." Genki said out loud to Hare.   
  
"Right." Hare said almost immediately.  
  
"...What happened when you fell in?" Hare acted as if he didn't hear Genki, and kept scouting for items. Genki thought nothing of it, as it was a scary thing to have happened. He did this every so often, questioned the group minus Moochi what happened. Little did he know what was really going on.  
  
***  
  
Holly awoke to the stench of a rotten fish. She quickly looked around and noticed many things; such as she was chained to a post by the feet. After tracing the chain back to the post, she saw Hare, as well chained. Hare was in deep thought, staring at the ground.  
  
"Hare!" Holly called out.  
  
"Holly! You're awake! You were out for a while."  
  
"Yeah ... where are we?"  
  
"I dunno. It looks like we're in a swamp of some kind, and obviously in being held prisoners."  
  
"We gotta find a way out!" After Holly said that she started running away from the center post. The chain reached it's full length and Holly fell to the ground.  
  
"Mind you that if we *did* get out of the chains, Holly, that we would have to cross the water." Hare pointed to the outside of the island that they were on. A vast amount of water was at all sides of them.  
  
"I...I hadn't noticed that... I feel queasy."  
  
"Yeah, well so do I. Don't worry, we'll find a way out." Hare said, think to himself that that was a complete lie.  
  
"That's ... good." Holly said, before lying down on the ground, going back to sleep. Hare resumed staring at the ground, searching his mind for a plan suitable to escape. Nothing seemed right to him. He hoped that everyone hadn't fallen to the same fate as he did.  
  
***  
  
Back in the town, Tiger was pacing in the inn room. He was going over different ways to say that they needed to keep going in his mind. Everyone got in from their work/scouting after a while, and Tiger finaly spoke up.  
"I've been thinking that we need to move on. Look for some way to hurt Moo, start an anti-baddie club, start a T-shirt factory, just something."  
  
"We have no where to go." Holly spoke up. "Even if we did go somewhere, where would we go? We have nothing to do but what we're doing until the oppourtunity comes up."  
  
"I'm with Tiger, Holly. We can't just sit here while the Phoenix lies asleep somewhere, waiting to be unlocked."  
  
"You're just saying that because your job involves licking hair! We don't even know if the Phoenix exists!" This shocked the whole room. No one, expecially Holly, ever doubted the existence of the Phoenix. Genki added this to his collective thoughts as he stared hard at the floor. Moochi ran outside while the group continued the yelling. He couldn't stand these arguments, and usually had no part in them except a 'chi' here and there. Genki followed quickly after as the shouting went on.  
  
"See what you've done?" Holly exclaimed to no one in particular. She ran out too. The rest of the group seemed puzzled. She came out to find Genki comforting Moochi. Her eyes glinted red for a short second, and she drew an engraved upon dirk. Moochi had short time to see the glint off the steel before warning Genki.  
  
"Watch out chi!!!!!" Moochi pointed at Holly. Genki spun around and ducked under the blow.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?" Holly's eyes were now completely red. Her pupils seemed to be lost in the crimson color.  
  
"Finishing the job... You should have been at the fall!" Holly swung again, missing Moochi's head by a short distance.   
  
"You're not Holly CHI!" Moochi yelled.  
  
"Of course I'm not." Holly's eyes glinted again. "I am Tascillio!" She thrusted at Genki.   
  
"Tascillio, huh? That must mean that your a baddie!" Genki interjected. "Moochi! Attack!!!"   
Moochi seemed to stall a little, not believe that it wasn't Holly. But he nodded soon after.  
  
"CHERRY BLOSSOM BLIZZARD" Moochi started whirling in the air and shooting out pink petals at Holly/Tascillio. Holly/Tascillio fell back, then countered by throwing the dirk. It spun thru the air and skinned Genki's arm. Blood hit the ground hard, as the dirk buried itself in a nearby boulder.  
  
"You will PAY!" Holly/Tascillio said while clutching her left arm. Holly/Tascillio floated in to air, and started glowing black. "HYPER STING!" Following Holly/Tascillio's words, a giant beam of energy bombarded Genki and Moochi both.  
  
"Hang in there Moochi!" Genki said, knowing the fate that he had chosen was not looking good for them. Moochi started to slip away, as the ground beneath his feet began to crack.   
  
"LIGHTNING!"  
  
A blue electric bolt of pure energy struck Holly/Tascillio in the back, and her attack dispelled. Only one person in the world could shoot a bolt as strong and accurate as it did, which was Tiger of the Wind. Holly/Tascillio's fell to the ground, screaming in pain.  
  
"Good save Tiger! I owe you one!" Genki said, holding his arm. "Are you ok, Moochi?"  
  
"Tired, chi." Moochi rubbed his eyes. The rest of the group ran outside. Suezo stared blatently at Holly/Tascillio, still unaware that "Holly" wasn't Holly.  
  
"Killers! You killed Holly!" Suezo was pretty pissed. Then Holly/Tascillio's body started spasming. It started switching from Holly's form to Tascillio's true form. Tascillio looked like a black Jell, but it had spikes all over it's body. "What the heck is that? That's not Holly!" Tascillio slowly dried up into a lost disk. Genki smirked as he took the blade out of the rock where it was embedded.  
  
"I think I can repay what I owe you, Tiger." Genki said as he walked toward Hare. Hare started sweating as Genki approached. "Say Hare, do you remember how much gold we won at Lobster Isle?" Hare shifted his eyes around.  
  
"I don't remember... it's been a long time since we were at Lobster Isle."  
  
"Wasn't it 200 gold?"  
  
"Yeah! 200 gold! Now I remember!"   
  
"We never went to Lobster Isle.... get it right." Genki said as he stabbed Hare in his side. Suezo tackled Genki.  
  
"What did you do that for!?" As soon as Hare fell to the ground, he turned in to a Tascillio too.  
  
"Curse....you........" Hare/Tascillio said, as he formed a Lost disk, next to Holly/Tascillio.  
  
***  
  
Well, that's all folks! Review. Please. Review. Period. I know lotsa you peoples don't want to hear REVIEW PLEASE for the millionth time, but oh well. REVIEW PLEASE. It doesnt matter much if you leave info on who you are, but just review. 


	3. Where am I?\Where do I stand?

Ok... This is kevskove and i am finaly back. I apologize for the long wait of writing, for i have been busy recently for the past 3 months, and this must have seemed like a huge cliffhanger to people actualy interested in reading this. Sorry! but here is chapter 3.  
  
***  
  
Genki nervously eyed the rest of the group. He stared at everyone else and asked them questions only the group would know. Genki knew that there would be no way of figureing out for sure if they were who they thought they were, but who was "they"? After a long night of interrogation, Genki felt as satisfied in his questioning as he felt that he could.  
  
"Look, it would be best that we all get some rest right now. Raising more suspicions right now would be tiring and pointless at the time being." Tiger said. Suezo and Moochi seemed to agree, as they went back to their room. Tiger and Genki remained.   
  
"What's wrong Genki?" Tiger asked. He was not used to being this involved with anyone else, but he tried to offer sympathy.  
  
"...Holly, Hare, and Golem..... they're all gone......." Genki said through watery eyes. He quickly wiped them away, and tried to hide his grief. "I don't know. What if Suezo, or Moochi, or even you are another baddie? I wouldn't know. Our group has been cut in half. It looks like Moo really won..."  
  
"Don't say that!" Tiger said fiercly. "By saying that, then he already has. But we have to grit our teeth, and through sadness hope for the best. Hope that the rest are ok. Hope that we will make it through." Tiger thought that Genki needed to be alone for a while, and had no question in his mind that Genki was indeed Genki. Him killing the two tascillions was proof enough, but Tiger knew that it was truly Genki. "Try to get some sleep kid." Tiger said before reentering the inn. He had pity towards Genki, for such a kid to have these problems.  
  
Genki stayed outside, thinking to himself. He was surrounded by his thoughts, two lost disks, and a blood stained dirk. He then remembered he was injured, and began to walk toward a stream to wash is wound. He was pretty sure Moochi and Tiger weren't baddies, for Tiger had retaliated toward Holly/Tascillio, and Moochi was with him the whole time of the earthquake. He began to ponder if it wasn't a natural happening. In the middle of his thoughts he reminenced being home, being with his mother and playing with his friends. He never had to deal with such happenings. Genki had changed much during his short stay. Then more ideas shot through his head. "What about that dirk?", "what about that shrine?" and "were those baddies working for Moo, or someone else?" He kept those in mind as he headed back to the inn.  
  
***  
  
Falling...  
  
Running...  
  
Holly began to run toward her grandfather. No wait, her friends. No, her father. But wasn't she running from her father. No, Moo. Lights began to blur around Holly, as she ran but got nowhere. It began to rain. Harder and harder until she couldn't see. Images flashed by as she ran. Suezo, Genki, Moochi, Tiger, Golem, and Hare flew by as she ran faster. At a distance was two lights; a dark one, and a light one. She ran toward both and suddenly...  
  
"Wake up Holly! GEEZ GET UP!" Hare said as shook Holly quickly. "Why aren't you getting up?" Holly started to blink rapidly, as she awoke to a strange and curious place. "Oh thank heavens, you're awake!" Hare said. Holly swiftly got to her feet. She had a furious head ache.  
  
"Ugh... Where am I?..." Holly said dizzily. She fell to the ground and seemed disoriented.   
"Take it easy, Holly! I think you're still weak after the fall. How do you feel?"  
  
Suddenly, Holly snapped. It was like she wasn't awake yet, but still dreaming.  
  
"The fall!" Holly yelled as she looked around. She saw chains on her feet and followed them to a metal post. The post also had the chains of Hare. To the east of them was a river. Golem was there, tied just above it in chains. He was terrified, and made a gasping yelp every so often.. "Golem! Golem!" Holly yelled.  
  
"It's no use. He's too far away." Hare looked at Holly being very concerned. He wanted to seem like he had control of the situation, to comfort Holly in a way. "What we need is a plan. Don't worry, I'll think of one." Hare said as he rested his head on a palm of his paw. "We need to get to the rest of the group."   
  
"Wha, where?"  
  
"Over there." Hare pointed to a far off cage. Holly squinted and could barely see Suezo. "My guess is that the others are somewhere near there. But I can't but wonder why we are here." Hare said before becoming silent as he thought of a suitable excape plan. Holly sat back in her own thoughts. She thought what the others were thinking, not knowing where they were and their situation. "At least they're alright." She thought. For the first time Holly noticed it was cold. She could see her own breath as it left her mouth. Holly shivered a little, and looked around. The chains that held them were about 8 feet long. The ground was hard, and looked like solid stone. "Stone...." Holly thought, and quickly reached for her own stone. It was gone. "HARE! My stone is gone!"  
  
Hare snapped out of his trance and glanced at Holly. "It doesn't matter 'cause I'm getting us outta here!" Hare said, enthusiasticly as he smirked an I'm-smart-because-I-just-thought-of-a-plan smirk.  
  
  
***  
  
Well that's all of chapter 3. Hope you enjoyed! Review if you want, for it really doesnt matter much. I do plan to finish this story, so do not fret! Any problems with the story or suggestions are welcome. I really dont know what a flame is, but i seem to see others pleading to not get them. I am assuming those are just yelling and screaming pointless and random things at the author. I am ok with those as long as you have a point when you do them. Sorta like creative screaming. Cha cha!  
  
kevskove 


	4. Let's go!

Ok, chapter 4 on the way.  
  
  
***  
  
The next day, Genki went outside to picked up the dirk. Everyone stared as the boy as he dislodged the blade next to two lost disks. He brought it inside his inn and examined it closer. It had two dragons engraved on it, above a ruby. On the otherside was a picture of a cave. A ray of light shone on it from a picture of a city and had the number 4000 next to it. He quickly brought it to Tiger, who was resting on the floor next to a fireplace. "Tiger!!" Genki said showing the dirk to him. "Look at this!"  
  
"It's a blade." Tiger said plainly.   
  
"Yeah. But look at this on the other side." Tiger positioned his head so he could see better.  
  
"Yeah, I see it, but I don't understand what you are getting at Genki."  
  
"Its a map! This must be where the others are!" Genki's eyes widened as he said it.  
  
"But why would a baddie carry a weapon around with instructions to it's hideout?" Tiger said, knowing that Genki was depending on his assumption.  
  
"But it has to be!" Tiger resumed resting, and sighed.  
  
"I really think its a trap. But you havent led us astray before. I trust your judgement, so we can go tomorrow if you want."  
  
"...Thanks Tiger." Tiger pretended to be asleep as Genki left the room.  
  
***  
  
Holly had just noticed her surroundings. The ground was hard and a greyish color, and every so often was a grate in the floor. The ceiling was rocky, and not very stable looking. She could see no walls, and did not know where the light was coming from. Golem seemed very distant, as did anything else. Very suddenly, one of the grates opened. Holly gasped and got Hare's attention. Two plates of food were slipped out and the grate closed. Then a jell slid through the grate and up onto the ground, taking form into a Tascillion. He picked up the food, and brought it to the prisoners.   
  
"Eat." it said. Holly and Hare both looked at each other with concerned looks.  
  
"Well, they already have us prisoner." Hare said, from a logical point of speaking. "So I deem this safe to eat." As he said that he began eating. Holly looked at hers. It was just a piece of bread and soupy looking broth. She was famished and she began to eat too.  
  
"Do not attempt to escape." The Tascillio jell said.  
  
"Are there others, besides us?" Holly asked, a little intimidated by the monsters size. It was taller and bigger than both Hare and herself put together.  
  
"Do not question us." The monster walked back to the grate and fell through the grating. As time wore on, it became an evident pattern. One jell brought food about twice every 4 hours. There was no day or night to Hare and Holly. Sometimes Holly brought up something to talk about with Hare, mindless trivial stuff. Hare tapped each chain link several times during the day, and could never stand still. Holly wondered what Hare was doing, but never interupted the silence. Holly wondered if they would ever get out.  
  
***  
  
The small group left town that day, not really knowing to go. Suezo looked it over very closely. "Well it seems that this is the town here." He said, pointing as best he could with his tounge to the town on the dirk. "And the sun rises in the east, so this ray of light is pointing to a cave, 4000 paces that way!" Suezo wished that Golem were here so he could launch him into the air. Although it wouldn't seem like this to anyone, Suezo missed being in the air. He felt free and important, looking down on the ground.  
  
"Good job chi!" Moochi said. The group felt a little happier after leaving the town. It was like a new start. Genki seem to be convinced that the rest of the group was out there, and gave Suezo and Moochi something to look forward too. Tiger was more realistic minded and decided to let Genki bring more cheer to the group. 'It would be better this way.' Tiger thought to himself. 'Moochi doesn't get that the group wont be there. Suezo needs Holly to be there. Genki needs something to point towards so he can go to. They are all living in a fake reality. When they get to where they are going to, they will be let down, which wont be anywhere.'  
  
"Last one there is a rotten monster!" Genki yelled and then started running and counting loudly, followed by Moochi and Suezo. Tiger calmly began to walk but found himself running too. 'No reason to bring the whole lot down.' He thought, as he ran.  
  
***  
  
Hare had devised a plan. He couldnt let Holly know what he was doing, for if he did then she might object to it. "Holly, can I borrow your talisman for a second?" Holly handed Hare her weapon, not sure what he was going to do. Hare wedged the tip of it into one of the weaker chain links. He then streched his arms and legs and began to do various warm up exercises. Holly began to join him, still unsure.  
  
"Say, Hare. What are you doing!?!?!?!?!" Holly was fairly confused for Hare to had randomly ask for her knife and then to start doing push ups. Hare suddenly jumped in the air as far as the chains would let him.  
  
"Dragon KICK!" Hare yelled as he came down with flames and a CRACK. Hare had landed on the end of the talisman. The chain had been broken, and the blade unhurt.  
  
"That was awesome!" Holly yelled as she picked up her talisman. "Let's go get Golem, and hurry!" Hare need no more encouragement and they were off to Golem's direction.  
  
***  
  
Well thats all today folks! Short little chapter. Have fun.  
  
  
-Kevskove 


	5. The Fall (again

Chapter 5  
  
  
***  
  
Genki and the rest could not have picked a worse day to go out it seemed. The ground was hot and sandy while the air was dry and sweltering as well.   
  
"*pant* *pant*...999, 1000!" Genki said as he fell to the ground. "It's TOO HOT!" Moochi fell next to him.  
  
"Moochi tired chi." Suezo squinted and saw what looked to him as a refreshing draft.  
  
"Nothing beats a nice wind in this weather..." Suezo said as he closed his eye. The "draft" hit the party and knocked Suezo over. "AHH!" Tiger braced himself while Genki and Moochi shielded their faces as Suezo flew by them.   
  
"Sandstorm!" Tiger yelled. After a minute or so, the storm subsided, and the temperature dropped sharply. Suezo spit out mouthfulls of sand out and dug himself out of a sand mound.   
"I don't get it!" Suezo screamed. "First, we go to a town where the air was cool and nice. We step out of it for a second and it's hotter than anything. Now I'm freezing!" The ground turned blue as it froze. "What the-" Genki covered Moochi's ears while Suezo went into a frenzic rage of profainity. "-**&%*&#*&%@*&!*&%%*@&%#!-"  
  
*Five minutes later*  
  
"-*$*##!" Genki and Tiger sighed as Suezo finished his little speech. Moochi didn't understand a thing Suezo had said. Genki stood up, brushed the sand off himself, and then said, "C'mon, let's get going.", and resumed counting paces. The rest agreed and they set off again. "4000 paces isn't that far!" Genki said as he resumed his position of rushing ahead of the group once again.  
  
***  
  
Holly and Hare finaly reached Golem. They still had a part of a chain to thier legs. Golem was bound by several chains to the ceiling, held by wooden posts. Very near under the giant was a stream of water, that came out of the ceiling and into a larger grate. Golem did not seem to like his position.  
  
"Golem!" Holly delightedly yelled. Holly was glad to see another member of the team together. Golem snapped out of his trance.  
  
"Holly." Golem said, also happy. Hare wasted no time in jumping up to the posts. He grinned and started hiting the posts, one by one. Each one snapped and Golem soon fell through the remaining ones into the water. "Ahhhh." Golem said, casually as he scrambled out of the water. Soon he calmed down, and said, "Thank you Hare."  
  
"Aw, it was nothing a little elbow grease and, cough, a lot of brains and wit couldn't do." Hare smirked while he said this.  
  
"Let me help you." As Golem said this he snapped the chains on both of thier legs.   
  
"Thanks Golem!" Holly said. "We need to find te rest of the group." She pointed to the faint cage that had Suezo in it. Golem and Hare both nodded and they set off. Golem soon picked up Hare and Holly and placed them gently on his shoulder. "...nice to have you back..."  
  
***  
  
Once Genki and crew got to pace 2000, the air got soggy and the ground got unstable. Genki noticed that his feet would get sucked into the ground every so often.  
  
"Moochi doesn't like this." Moochi said. Genki picked up Moochi and started to walk a little faster.  
  
"The weather changes every thousand paces. I wonder why..." Genki thought out loud.  
  
"It's because someone has a sick sense of humor!" Suezo said. Tiger tried to remain silent through the times of complaining. 'Someone has to.' Tiger thought.  
  
"I can see it!" Suezo yelled, relieved.  
  
"I don't." Genki said, setting Moochi down.  
  
"Remember, I'm the one with the sharpest eye around here." Suezo started to strut as best he could with one leg.  
  
"Let's get going chi!" Moochi said gleefully as he began to run.  
  
*several minutes later*  
  
No one had kept count of paces when Suezo sighted the cave. At some point in time, the air got dense. Everyone had begun to have trouble breathing. Genki grabbed his head with both arms and fell.  
  
" '4000 paces isn't that far.' " Suezo mocked as he gasped for air.   
  
"My head hurts." Genki through clenched teeth. Moochi ran to his side and Genki got back to his feet. "Let's hurry." Tiger too, had begun to grow weary. He had also noticed that everyone had began to sway left and right when they walked. The cave became closer and closer to the group until they finaly reached it and took shelter inside. The air was cool and calm inside. Everyone panted as they reached the inner sanctuary. Genki fell to his knees and started kissing the fresh earth. Soon after he spit it out. He tried to think of something comical Hare would had said in his position.  
  
"What's this?!?" Genki swung his head to see Tiger standing next to 2 different holes.  
  
"Looks like key hole chi!" Moochi said.  
  
"Hmmmm, not a keyhole." Genki looked at them both under closer inspection. One hole was slightly larger than the other, and both were diamond shaped. He thrusted the dirk into the bigger of the holes. Tiger strangely looked at Genki. The dirk fit perfectly into the slot.  
  
"So wonderful to be on solid ground!" Suezo started dancing around the room. "No sudden suprises. No mysterious sand pits. No random-" Suezo was cut off by the ground beneath him falling. Tiger and Moochi ran to the hole that had been newly created.  
  
"Suezo chi!" the pink monster shouted down the hole. Cracks began to surround Moochi and Tiger. Tiger quickly noticed them and made sure everyone else did.  
  
"Moochi WATCH OUT!" Tiger jumped back out of harms way as. Fear engulfed Moochi's eyes as he too slipped in.  
  
"No!" Genki said as he jumped in after his companion, not caring his fate. Tiger sighed as he looked around to no one.  
  
"Hmph. What's one more hole?" he questioned to himself and jumped in after.   
  
***  
  
Hare, Holly, and Golem met up one by one with the rest of their party. All of them were found encaged, with no chains. Holly wondered how they would ever get out of such an intricate structure. Suddenly, Tascillios started to jump out of various grates in the floor. More were popping out than even Hare could manipulate. Holly franticly looked for an escape plan, but failed to come up with one.  
  
"Hare!... plan!" Holly said as the rest of the group backed up to each other. The Tascillios moved in closer and closer to the party. A few pebbles from the ceiling fell to the ground in front of Hare. He noticed and looked up to find more rocks falling.   
  
"Watch out!" Hare covered his head as more debris fell until finaly the ceiling gave way. Suezo, Genki, Moochi, and Tiger fell onto Holly, Hare, Golem, Suezo, Genki, Moochi, and Tiger...  
  
  
***  
  
Well, that's all for today. I would also like to ask of my readers to reply to this question: should this be a long, big story, or a shorter, simpler story? Reply in.   
-kevskove 


	6. Escape!

OKEYS, here ya peoples go. Chapter 6. *shakes hands together, dusts clothes off*  
  
  
  
***  
  
Genki crashed to the ground and quickly picked himself up. He coughed the dust out of him and dusted his shirt off. He picked up his hat and plopped it back on his head and said to no one in particular, "That was fun." He trailed the floor up to a figure of... himself! He stood dumbfounded at a person who really was him, not aware that Moochi was falling through the gap above him.  
  
"cccccccchhhhhhHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Moochi exclaimed as he fell on top of Genki's head. More dust flew in the air as the two collided with the ground. Just as Genki began to get up again, Suezo fell on his back. Suezo smiled to himself and hopped off.  
  
"That didn't hurt half as much as it usualy does." Suezo said in a cheery tone. Tiger slowed himself from falling too fast by running sideways on the walls of the hole. He landed gracefully next to Genki's shuddering body. He soon noticed simultaneously noticed his double looking back at him. Moochi watched as the other Moochi watched back. Suezo squinted closely to see a difference in the other Suezo, but failed to find one. For a moment everyone stared at each other in silence, each one staring each other's counterpart. All but Genki who laid on the ground in pain. Suddenly he hopped up with a grin on his face.  
  
"We got you all figured out." Genki grinned when he said this. "You!" he pointed at the other Moochi. "You're not Moochi. And you!" he pointed at Hare. "You're not the real Hare! And YOU!" He pointed at the alter Genki. "You are SOOO not me!" Genki laughed crazily as he took sight of the many Tascillios surrounding them.   
  
"Get a hold of yourself, kid!" Suezo yelled at Genki.  
  
"They look just like Auntie Em does." Genki seemed dazed and confused.  
  
"You're pushing me to doing something rash..." Suezo closed his eye and glared.  
  
"And you must be the Monopoly man!" Genki cackled in a psychotic way. Suezo extended his tounge and slapped Genki in the face. Genki snapped out of his trance as he noticed the spit on his face.  
  
"EWWWW EWWWWWW!" Genki quickly rid his face of the spit and ran up to the other Genki. Moochi began to whine.  
  
"You are Genki, chi. But you are Genki, chi!" Moochi seemed very confused. Tiger's eye twitched as he saw himself across from him. He wasn't going to wait with the small petty talk. He focused straight ahead of him.  
  
"Glad to see you guys again, again!" Hare said as he scratched the back of his head. Holly looked concerned at Hare. Hare shrugged and shook his head in disbelief.   
  
Tiger released a blue/white ball of concentrated electricity as he yelled, "THUNDER!" The burst of destruction knocked Tiger back some as he let go of it and the other Tiger was thrown in the air.   
  
The other Tiger got to his feet and said, "Get him!". The other Moochi, other Suezo, and other Genki all jumped for Tiger. Holly, Hare, Golem, and the other surrounding Tascillio's watched as Tiger ran.   
  
"Let's go!" Genki said as he raced to help his friend. He tackled the Tiger chasing Tiger to the ground.  
  
"It's me you idiot!" 'Tiger' said. Genki looked confused.  
  
"Sorry." Genki said as he scratched his head. Moochi head-butted a Suezo and it was pushed back into the other Suezo. This sparked a slight brawl between the two eye stalks.   
  
"You thief!" one Suezo said.  
  
"It is you who is thieving!" the other one said as he dodged a tail swing towards him. At this point in time, Golem picked them both up.  
  
"Stop... fighting..." Golem said.  
  
"Put me down Golem!" both said at the same time. Golem threw them both aside and folded his hands together.  
  
"EARTHQUAKE" Golem said as he slammed his hands to the ground. Everyone stopped fighting to fall to the ground. Hare felt his legs turn to jelly as he collapsed to the ground. "Stop... fighting..." Golem said, again. One of the Genki's wiped his cheek off as he stood up.  
  
"Let's just attack our own self." he said as he jumped towards the other Genki.  
  
All at once, the horde of Tascillio's yelled, "CEASE" in unisisom. The air shook as the said it. All heads turned to them as they spoke. One of each double turned back into a Tascillio. They then moved into the crowd of other Tascillios. The original party moved close to each other.  
  
"Good to see you guys are ok." Genki whispered.  
  
"You too!" Holly said.  
  
"I thought I'd never see you again." Suezo said in a relieved tone.  
  
"Chi!" Moochi interjected. The Tascillios then at the same time turned into one of each person. In the end were many different individual of the party. Every single one stood emotionless, with no flaw to the next.   
  
At an instant, the Tascillio's all turned inward and said at once, "DO NOT RESIST." The ground shook as they spoke. One of the many Hollys walked to the real Holly and grabbed her talisman. Holly tried to retalliate but was struck down. Immediately after the Tascillio returned among the ranks of other Hollys. Genki ran to Holly's side and helped her up.  
  
"Hey! Gimme that back!" Genki said, outraged.   
  
"ANY OF YOUR POSESSIONS ARE ALSO THE LINO's." the Lino said.  
  
"The 'Lino', huh? Well I'm Genki, champion monster trainer and I demand you give that back and let us go free!" Genki had grown fond of his self-given title 'champion'.  
  
"Yea! Give it back or else!" Suezo said as he stepped up.  
  
"SILENCE!" the Lino said. "YOU WILL PAY RESPECTS AND WILL TO THE LINO OR YOU WILL BE ENSLAVED."  
  
Hare whispered his plan to Golem and then to Holly. Holly then said,  
"But isn't giving your will up the same as being enslaved?"  
  
"...YOU WILL PAY RESPECT AND WILL TO THE LINO OR YOU WILL BE ENSLAVED."   
  
Holly winked at Genki. Genki seemed to understand.  
  
"Do you pay respect to the Lino too?" Genki sarcasticly asked.  
  
"THE LINO WILL GAIN RESPECT OR YOU WILL BE DESTROYED."  
  
"Seems to me that the Lino don't deserve my respect." Genki said. As Genki stalled the Lino, the others climbed to Golem's hand. Genki walked up to the Holly that had the talisman.  
  
"ANY ATTEMPTS OF TRICKERY WILL BE MANIPULATED AND THEN YOU WILL BE DESTROYED."  
  
"Don't be so sure of it!" Genki kicked Tascillio/Holly in the mid-section and grabbed the talisman. "Golem get ready!" Genki jumped up to the tall monster's hand. Hare grabbed his hand to pull him up as Suezo stuck his tounge out. "NOW!" Golem nodded before he launched the group through the hole in the ceiling by which they'd entered. He then climbed after. The Tascillio moved to follow after all at once. Genki and party hit the ceiling of the cave hard. Tiger picked himself up and grabbed the dirk still in the hole from earlier.  
  
"Let's get outta here!" Tiger yelled to the others just as Golem climbed out of the hole.  
  
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Suezo said as Golem scooped up the group and ran out of the cave carrying his team. The Tascillios that had made it to the top fired energy bursts at Golem as he got further and further from the cave. None ever hit the stone monster. Golem reached the town and kept going. He traveled north on a stone path for a while before letting the group down.  
  
"We made it chi!" Moochi screamed with delight as he plopped to the ground.  
  
"Yea, thanks Golem!" Genki said. Golem smiled as best he could and nodded.  
  
***  
  
That's all for now.  
  
BYES -Kevskove 


End file.
